1949 Bates BAR

Along with the Curly Stay Hetchins the Bates with it's distinctive Cantiflex frame tubes and Diadrant front forks have become corner stones in the long and distinguished history of British made light weight racing machines.
Bates first announced the Cantiflex frame tubes in 1935, the tubes which are bulged 4-5mm in the centre sections are double butted, and were especially drawn for bates by Reynolds, the resulting frame had a reputation for being very stiff.
The Diadrant front forks developed around the same time were made to give straighter overall fork lead hence a shorter wheelbase, but with the bend absorbing the normal harsher road feed back usually associated with straight front forks.

This Bates Bar was built in 1949, and was restored by me about ten years ago.
It has been set up and ridden by me in a few different period British time trial guises over the years, Fixed wheel, ASC Sturmey Archer fixed and in it's present presentation AC ultra close ratio Sturmey Archer AC 3 Speed,Same as used by 'The Boot' Ray Booty in his one way 100 mile (160km) record ride in 1956 of 3h 28m 40, so you know you are in good company.
It has been super fun to blast around the country side on over the years (sunny days only), has a great vintage feel about it, is surprisingly fast and is also very usable.
It does has the odd paint chip here and there and the components all show a bit of patina, but hey that's how I like them! You can see these different stages here..Bates Bar

Frame 1949 Bates Bar 531 Reynolds DB Cantiflex frame tubes and Diadrant front fork.
Size
Seat Tube 57cm C-C
Top Tube 57cm C-C

Gnutti fluted crank set 
Chater Lea 47t Chainring
Chater Lea 'Tommy' pedals
Sturmey Archer AC Ultra Close Ratio 3 Speed Hub with Alloy Shell.+ Sturmey Archer Wing Nuts.
Early model High Flange British Airlite front hub
Both newly laced to Dunlop Special Lightweight Rims
Brooks B17 Champion Saddle
Alloy Seat Pin
Stronglight Competition Headset
GB 531 Stem
Stratalite Alloy Bars
Lam Brake Lever
GB Coureur Brake Caliper
Coloral Front Bottle Cage
Period French Allot Water Bottle.
Period Ultralite Alloy Pump
Stopwatch Holder, but not the stop watch, sorry.

SOLD
Shipping
North Island $50.00
South Island $60.00
I ship World wide contact me for rates.
Payment
New Zealand Bank Account
PayPal
Contact;
adrian@theflyingwheel.co.

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